In April 2014, I attempted to climb Mt. Everest before an avalanche in the icefall claimed the lives of 18 Sherpa. A year later (May 2015), I returned to Mt. Everest only to witness a 7.8 earthquake while at camp 1. I am preparing to climb again in April 2018 but this blog is dedicated to my purposeful pursuits. Please be sure to check out the charities that I support and follow me on twitter (@pem725) or instagram (pem725).

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Three days and counting....

Greetings,I hope this update finds you all well. The past few weeks were extremely busy with work, climbing, and travel. Sorry to stop the updates but something had to give and I figured I would give everyone a little break before I bombarded you with updates. We are heading out late Wednesday night for Dover, England. I am in great swimming shape. My body withstood a huge training effort so far and I am now just resting these final few days - with a little swimming thrown in to keep me fresh. There is nothing more I can do to prepare myself other than rest while I await a long day on the water. If all goes well, I will be able to swim during my tide. The weather doesn't look terribly promising but forecasting errors increase the further we move out from the date of interest. Right now, we are almost 5 days away from the beginning of my tide (Sept 4th). Cross your fingers and hope for good weather, smooth waters, and a nice tail wind pushing me towards France.During the next week, I will post updates on the blog. Kathy will post a definitive update when I start my swim. She will post on the blog so be sure to follow along here. The best place to follow my track is on the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation's website. They post live tracking on this page. The ship's name is Suva just in case you wanted to know the specific boat to track. We will be sure to post as much information as possible. Due to the nature of the swim, there is no way to give you much notice. I may have little to no notice before I swim so your alert may be more relaxing than mine. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and hope for the best.I promise no earthquakes or avalanches for this adventure. Thanks to my brother-in-law (Kevin McGovern) for providing me with a little bit of humor prior to this adventure. Here it is for you all to enjoy....

Three days and counting. See you tomorrow for more updates. Time to pack.